


A Lemur's Tail

by BrusselsSprout



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Bodyswap, Book 1 AU, Crack, Cuddles, Fluff, Friendship, Gen, Humor, Spirit Shenanigans, There are hugs, Zuko is Momo, enemies to weird pet to friends, very aloof lemur, zuko is just trying to get away from them
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-09-19
Updated: 2019-09-29
Packaged: 2020-10-24 07:24:27
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20702150
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BrusselsSprout/pseuds/BrusselsSprout
Summary: Zuko wakes up to find himself next to a snoring Avatar and his annoying Water Tribe companions. The perfect opportunity - if only he wasn't in the wrong body.Or: Zuko accidentally body-jumps into joining the Gaang.  Enemies to weird pet to friends.Book 1 AU, Zuko-Momo body-swap.





	1. The Switch

**Author's Note:**

> A big shout-out to [Boogum](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Boogum/pseuds/Boogum). Her wonderful stories made me fall in love with crack-fics, spirit-shenanigans and strange animal transformations. Those stories heavily inspired this work.

“General Iroh, wake up. We have an emergency,” the panic in Lieutenant Jee’s voice made Iroh jump out of bed immediately. Jee was an old sea lion who didn’t panic without good reason. 

“What’s going on?” he asked hoping to cut short the interruption of his sleep. 

“It’s Prince Zuko,” Jee lowered his voice and gave him a significant look that didn't help much. Sleep-interruptions were always about Prince Zuko.

“He set his bed on fire again?” Iroh whispered. It had happened a couple of times in the first months of his banishment. The combination of nightmares and teenage volatility could make a firebender’s life tricky.

Jee shook his head, “You'd better see it for yourself, Sir.”

Iroh followed Jee to his nephew’s cabin. Zuko had been behaving strangely ever since he disappeared for a night. Coincidentally, the same night Zhao apparently lost the Avatar from custody if Iroh’s sources were right. Iroh was old enough not jump to wild conclusions, but he wondered sometimes if Zuko’s strange behaviour was somehow connected to these events.

Iroh peeped through the small window. He gasped. It was definitely much worse than nighttime flames. 

“Lock the door, Lieutenant. And not a word to anyone, understood?” Iroh said on a steely voice that left no doubt that it was a firm command from the Dragon of the West, and not a kind request by the retired tea-lover. 

The man nodded, “Yes, General Iroh. What are your orders?”

“Same as yesterday. Follow the Avatar,” Iroh replied without hesitation. For the first time since the Avatar resurfaced, he was really hoping that they would catch up with the last hope of humanity.

-0-

“Kho, kho, hrrrrr.” Uncle was snoring again, except it sounded even worse than usual. Zuko tried to pull his pillow over his head only to find it gone and replaced by cold dirt. “Kho, kho,” the snoring increased in volume, accompanied by a strong gust of wind. _ Did he leave his window open? _ He opened his eyes to find himself staring at a very big blue arrow on top of a bald head real close to his face. _ The Avatar. _ It must be a dream. Zuko rubbed his eyes… and let out a loud scream. Or at least he planned it to be a scream, but instead the noise he made was a kind of a chirp, and his hands were replaced by little furry paws…and oh, no...

“Calm down, Momo, it’s too early…” Zuko watched frozen as the Avatar’s giant tattooed hand proceeded to land on top of his head and… wait did he just scratch him under the ears in an egregious breach of protocol? 

_ “Leave me alone!” _ordered Zuko and jumped back to get outside the reach of the grabby hands of the monk. 

“Shhhhh, Momo,” another hand grabbed him, this time from behind and pulled him into a tight embrace. His head bounced against soft flesh, and he realized in horror that he was buried in between the curving mounds of the waterbender’s breasts, clad in nothing but white bindings. He thrashed and clawed in panic, trying to get out of the curvy-trap, but she held him in a firm grip. “Settle down, now.” Her voice was strict, but her hand stroke soothingly along his spine. Zuko froze. Nobody rubbed his back like this for so long, not since mother…He tensed. Then came another long stroke. It was...It was... It was probably best to wait until she fell asleep to get himself free. 

“I told you, we should just eat him,” the waterbender’s idiot brother added groggily. 

Zuko closed his eyes, trying to ignore how his heart was drumming against his chest in blind panic. This was nothing but a bad dream anyway. The stress of chasing the Avatar catching up on him. The morning would come, the sun would rise and he would be back on the deck, practicing his firebending forms just like a regular banished prince should.

-0-

The morning came, the sun rose and as Zuko opened his eyes, it became painfully evident that this wasn't at all a nightmare. It was a daymare. It was his harsh, cold reality. Zuko really did turn into a small furry creature. Feeling sick, he inspected his new body. White paws, giant furry ears. A lemur, if the white rings of the long gray tail he dragged around was anything to go by. 

He looked around to find the camp already in a buzz of activity. The Avatar knelt at the riverside, shaving his head. Next to him the Water Tribe idiot pretended to shave the non-existent fuzz off his face with his boomerang. Zuko shook his head. _ What kind of backward people shaved with a boomerang? _ The waterbender was luckily all dressed and was scooping steaming rice for breakfast into bowls. 

Zuko settled next to the Avatar, his reflection in the water confirming his dreadful suspicion. Not only he turned into a lemur, he turned into the Avatar’s lemur, specifically. The boy noticed him and held out his hand with a friendly smile. “Bad night, buddy?”

_ You have no idea. And I’m not your buddy. This doesn’t change anything, I’m still capturing you, _ Zuko said defiantly. It came out as a cheerful chirp_. Gah._ This was only a temporary setback, not the end of the road. 

“You are right about that,” the arrowed head nodded in sympathy, reaching for him. Zuko jumped away before the monk could scratch his ears again. Maybe he was in a lemur’s body now but it didn’t mean he had no standards left. Except, Zuko had never jumped in a lemur’s body before and it had a completely inconvenient giant tail, which he proceeded to trip over and fell down, tumbling in the dust.

The idiot Water Tribe boy started laughing with his mouth full of rice, spitting the half-chewed food in every direction. Zuko scowled.

_Were you raised in a barn? _"Chirp."

He got up with as much dignity as one could muster in a state of furriness and giant ears. He dusted himself off, but nobody was paying attention to him anymore. They were engrossed in some trivial argument about the taste of frozen frogs. The Water Tribe really had the worst cuisine.

Zuko’s stomach growled, reminding him that lemurs got hungry too. The pot of rice looked like the only edible thing in the vicinity. A bit pathetic for breakfast, but it would have to do under the circumstances. He snuck closer trying to grab a handful of rice from the pot, but a slap came down on his paw before he could reach it.

“Go, catch a bug, Momo. We really don’t have enough rice to go around,” Boomerang Boy growled at him.

_ I’ll stuff a bug in your mouth, idiot. _Zuko gave the guy his most intimidating glare, which apparently was not at all intimidating in his current form if the amused curve of the Water Tribe boy's eyebrows were anything to go by.

“Come on, Sokka. Give him a break. Here, Momo, you can have some of mine,” the Avatar held out some rice in his palm. 

Zuko frowned and crossed his arms across his chest. He was not going to eat rice from the Avatar’s palm like a little monkey. He was the Crown Prince of the Fire Nation. Banished, but still a prince. And the Avatar was the enemy. First rule of warfare; don't eat from the hand of the enemy.

A pig-fly buzzed by his head. Zuko watched its flight-path, considering his other option, and with a defeated sigh, he edged towards the boy’s tattooed hand. Eyeing him suspiciously, he snatched a pawful of rice and settled at a safe distance to munch on it. It was horribly salty, but probably still better than eating a bug. Only slightly better. Not that he ever tried a bug. Except that cricketroach that Azula smuggled into his ice-cream that one time. When he finished, he inched back for seconds. This time the Avatar was ready for him. With lightning-quick reflexes, he patted Zuko’s head before he could dash out of the petting-zone. 

_ Stop doing that. _“Chirp-chirp.”

“Aang, you are spoiling him. He’s going to stop catching his own food and start stealing ours,” Sokka grumbled. They all stared at Zuko. 

_ I don’t steal stuff. It would not be honorable_. “Chirp-chirp”, he said indignantly. 

“Let me remind you who stole the last of the seal-jerky…” the waterbender of all people came to Zuko’s rescue. 

“Oh, stop it, Katara. You can’t keep going on forever about the seal-jerky. I’m a growing man,” Sokka flexed his not exactly impressive muscles.

“Then act like it and figure out which way we are going, while I clean up,” she retorted. 

“I was going to do that anyways,” Sokka huffed. He rummaged his sack, pulled out a very dirty, tattered map and turned to the Avatar. “Aang, you want to help?” 

The monk scratched his bald head and gave him an apologetic look. “I was actually going to try my air-scooter down the cascade. It looks fun.”

Zuko frowned. Fun? Didn't he notice that there was a war going on? Some last-hope-of-the-world this guy was. 

“Or you could practice waterbending while we clean the dishes,” Katara suggested with the kind of pleasant smile that was nothing more than a thinly-veiled threat in Zuko’s experience. 

The Avatar grinned at her happily; the passive-aggressiveness of the suggestion went straight over his head. “No, I think I’ll pass.” Before she could get another word in, he dashed off into the distance. 

The waterbender frowned and shook her head. She carried the dishes down to the river and with choppy motions started bending water into them. Zuko was not a waterbender, but even he could tell that her form was terrible. Shoulders slouched, knees not bent enough. 

_ You are doing it all wrong. _ “Chirp, chirp.”

When she looked up, he pulled back his shoulders, demonstrating the right posture.

“Are you mocking me, Momo?” she asked with an evil grin and splashed some water in his direction. Zuko ducked it with a shriek. Well, it was supposed to be a manly yelp - but somehow it got transformed into an undignified high-pitched sound inside his new body. He scowled at the ungrateful waterbender and stomped off. Stomping was also remarkably hard and unimpressive in a lemur’s body.

Zuko pondered his options. Nobody was watching him now, so he could simply dash off. But that plan had several disadvantages. First, he had no idea where he was. Second, he was a blasted lemur! A LEMUR! He had nowhere to go. He could never face Uncle or his crew in his current form. It was better to be banished Prince Zuko lost at sea, than banished Prince Zuko who turned into a lemur and ate bugs. There was more dignity in the first option. 

Still, it wouldn't hurt to find out where he was. Three years of aimless wondering taught him that sometimes the second best thing to knowing where you were going was to know exactly where in the world you were. A fixed point on the map could give a sense of grounding, even at sea. Navigation gave him a sense of purpose.

He found Sokka next to the campfire, studying his map. Zuko stretched, trying to peek at it but his new body was too short to reach all the way. The only option was to jump on the lap of the Water Tribe peasant. Zuko scrunched his nose, pursed his lips and leapt.

_ Phew, your clothes are stinky. _"Chirp."_  
_

“Aaaw, watch yourself,” Sokka yelped in surprise, then his features softened into an idiotic smile. He raised his hand and his palm lingered close to Zuko’s head, like he was about to pet him.

_ Don't you dare, _ Zuko hissed, baring his teeth. Sokka grimaced, but pulled his hands back. 

Petting-danger successfully evaded, Zuko studied the map. Something was definitely off. 

_ It’s upside down, you idiot. _ “Chirp-chip.”

“I’m not playing with you, Momo. I’m busy figuring out the direction we are going.”

_ Then stop holding the map wrong. How did you guys evade me even for an hour? _

"We have to make sure that evil Prince Ponytail Jerk can't find us."

_Hey, watch your mouth, Water Tribe peasant. It's not a pony-tail. And I'm not evil or jerk. _Zuko chattered in agitation. He yanked on the map forcefully, trying to turn it turn it the right way.

“Hey, watch what you are doing! You can still end up as dinner one day,” Sokka snapped. 

_ I’m not scared of you. _Zuko chirped belligerently this time.

Well, maybe it was just a tiny bit intimidating how Sokka towered over him as he stood up. Zuko got into his firebending stance, but of course no fireballs came out of his furry paws. For lack of a better plan, he picked up a pebble, threw it at the Water Tribe Boy’s head and dashed off, climbing up to the safety of the closest tree. Lemur-bodies were at least really good at climbing, even if they were completely useless for everything else. 

Sokka stood under the tree, shaking his fist at Zuko. “You are an insolent rascal,” he yelled. 

“Are you really having a fight with Momo, Sokka?” Katara stood in front of him, hands on hips looking as intimidating as only sisters could. “Couldn’t you pick someone closer to your size?”

“He threw a rock at me,” Sokka complained on a whiny voice. “And tried to steal the map.”

_ He started the whole thing _. “Chirp-chirp,” Zuko added from his safe spot on the tree.

“Why would he want your stupid map?” 

“I’m sure Momo was just trying to help,” the Avatar intervened on a conciliatory tone as soon as he landed gracefully next to the Water Tribe siblings. “Didn’t you, buddy?” he winked at Zuko.

_ I don’t need you to protect me. _ “Chirp-chirp.” 

Zuko stayed perched on the tree and watched as they packed up camp and tied their belongings to the bison’s back. His mind was racing in useless circles. He had to fix this somehow before anyone realized what had happened. Except, how did you fix something if you didn’t even understand it yourself? Maybe it was a spirit curse. He had read about such things. And if it was, it could be broken. And if it broke, he wanted to be close to the Avatar, so he could capture him. However he turned it around, it was always the same. He was better off sticking with this traveling circus.

In any case, it didn’t seem like he had much choice. When they were finished packing, the Avatar came back to the tree. “Come on, Momo. We are ready to go.”

Zuko started climbing down the tree carefully. It was more tricky than going up. 

“Is your wing hurting? Why don’t you just fly?” the Avatar asked.

Right. Those flappy things under his armpits were supposed to do that. Zuko looked down, but the ground looked very far away. 

_ No thanks. I think I'll first just figure out how to move around on the ground. _He continued inching his way down the branches.

“Fine, have it your way,” shrugged Aang and waited patiently for Zuko to land. They walked over to the bison. From Zuko’s new perspective it looked even more intimidating than during their previous encounters. Its enormous head hovered right over Zuko as it sniffed the air suspiciously. The brown button-eyes narrowed warily and the beast bared his teeth with a low rumbling noise.

“Whoa!” Aang held out his hand. “Appa, be nice to Momo, please. In this group we all try to get along.” He lifted Zuko to his shoulder and airbended himself into the sky bison’s neck. 

“Yip-yip, Appa!” 

The sky bison started its ascent. The wind bit into Zuko’s fur. He lost his balance and grabbed onto Aang’s neck tightly so he wouldn’t fly off. Aang pulled him in his lap affectionately. “I’m glad you’re feeling better, buddy. You seemed really out of sorts this morning.”

Zuko tensed as the Avatar scratched his ears again, but considering the wind, the height and the lack of experience when it came to using his wings, he decided it was better to stay put in the relative security. Aang continued petting him absentmindedly. Zuko - having no other options - let him.

_ This doesn’t mean anything. It’s part of my disguise. I’m still capturing you. _Zuko felt it was better to clarify these things in advance to avoid any misunderstanding. “Purr-purr.” Wait did he just purr? Zuko looked at Aang mortified.

Aang smiled at him and stroke him right under his chin. “I’m so glad you are here with us too, Momo.”


	2. Growing Pains

Zuko was dangling from a very high branch. Upside down, being held by nothing but his tail. 

It was the fault of the lazy Avatar. They were having  _ yet  _ another break. Zuko had no idea how they were planning to get anywhere with this kind of work-ethic. None of these people would have made it on his ship, where slacking off was not tolerated. Well, maybe the waterbender - she was clearly the most motivated among them, even if her form was terrible. 

Zuko used the breaks to practice moving around in his new body. He did sprints. Push-ups. Hot-squats were kind of useless without the firebending, so he decided to skip those. Climbing came naturally. Lemur-bodies were also really good at jumping and he had yet to find a distance he could not make. That is until now, which is how he ended up hanging by his tail. Upside down. Well, at least he figured out what the tail was for; it was like a third arm, but curly. For emergencies. If he remained calm, he could surely figure out how to get back on the branch. 

Maybe he could get back up using the tail? He focused on the appendage.  _ *Move* _ Zuko commanded the tail. Nothing happened. Maybe he could use it like a rope instead? He wiggled his body around trying to get a hold of it. After some twisting and contorting that would have put Ty Lee to shame, he managed to reach the tail with his left paw. A voice startled him.

“Are you stuck, buddy?” 

Zuko lost his grip on the tail, and was back dangling upside-down. The idiot Avatar. Didn’t he ever have Avatar-things to do? Like learning to bend all the other elements? If Zuko was the Avatar, he’d be training all day, every day. It must have been awesome to be able to bend four elements. Some people didn’t appreciate how lucky they were. 

_ I’m not stuck. I just haven’t yet figured out where to go next. _ Zuko chirped resentfully.

The boy spun his glider and landed on the branch that Zuko was hanging from, his feet dangling next to Zuko. 

“You are right. Sometimes a change of perspective is what we need,” he said thoughtfully.

_ This is my perspective. Would you mind finding your own? Can’t you see that I’m busy.?  _ “Chirp.”

“I think maybe we should change direction and try to find Zuko’s ship,” the monk sighed. 

_ *Prince Zuko*  _ Zuko yowled. There was no reason to become chummy. When things got back to normal, they would still be enemies. _ Otherwise, great idea. You have given your word that you’d surrender after all. _

“Katara has been so down about her lost necklace,” the boy clarified. 

_ Are you stalling your mission to save the world over a lost necklace? _ The sound Zuko made this time sounded almost like a proper scoff. The Avatar clearly needed to get his priorities straight.

The monk leaned down the branch, his big round grey eyes staring at Zuko. “Don’t be so negative. I could fight Zuko to get it back. I mean I could take him with my hands tied behind my back.” 

It didn’t even sound like boasting, just a matter-of-fact statement. Zuko frowned. 

_ A bit overconfident, don’t you think?  _ He didn’t like to be reminded of his first encounter with the Avatar. It was an embarrassing loss, but he learned his lesson. He practiced. He would be better if given another chance. _ _

_ The first time doesn’t count. That was an ambush. I haven’t figured out yet how airbenders worked. It was cheating. _

“It’s just the monks used to say that all strife starts in people’s mind. It’s a shadow, but if you let it fester, it turns into a real monster,” the boy sighed again. 

Zuko grimaced.  _ Yeah, that sounds exactly like the nonsense Uncle likes to say. _ “Chirp.” 

It was the wrong thing to say, because now he imagined a temple full of Uncle Irohs dressed in orange robes, drinking tea, playing pai sho, spouting maddeningly vague proverbs. And those skeletons he saw… no, he was not going to think about this. It led nowhere. He was Fire Nation, he was the loyal son of the Fire Lord, it was not his place to question the war. 

“I shouldn’t be looking for a fight, there’s got to be another way,” the Avatar shook his head. 

_ You could just forget about the stupid necklace and keep going instead of stalling. Zhao is after you too, you idiot. I can’t save you every time.  _ “Chirp, chirp, chirp,” Zuko hated how agitated he sounded.

“Thanks, Momo. You are absolutely right.” The monk flashed a wide grin and hopped off the branch, leaving it swinging up and down. Zuko’s stomach swung with it. 

When the boy was out of sight, he resumed his attempts at climbing back down the tree. 

He managed to finally work his way upright and hop to a lower branch when he spotted something red in the green undergrowth.  _ Fire Nation uniforms. _

“Look, it’s more of that white fur. They can’t be that far,” whispered one of them. A woman. 

They were scouts, Zuko realized. He crept closer to hear their conversation.

“Let’s be careful, Hiroko. What if that Blue Spirit shows up again?” her companion asked fearfully. Zuko couldn’t help but smirk. It was still unbelievable how they pulled off that escape. It was exhilarating. 

“Fool, Zhao said that he was just a common impostor.” Just as Zuko suspected. These were Zhao’s underlings, hot on the Avatar’s trail. “Let’s catch the kid, that way, we don’t have to be trodding through these bug-festered forests anymore. I’m sick of them,” she sneered.

“I thought it was Prince Zuko’s job to catch the Avatar anyways,” the man continued. Zuko nodded. Exactly. The Avatar was his. 

“You are an idiot, Kin,” the woman scoffed derisively. “If the Fire Lord wanted Prince Zuko to catch the Avatar, he would have given the ships and men to him instead of Zhao.”

Zuko felt a bitter taste in his mouth. It was a question he asked himself sometimes too in his moments of desperation. He had no good answers, except that Zhao somehow tricked Father into it. There was simply no other rational explanation. 

“Well, a buddy of mine served on his ship a couple of years ago. He said that true, the Prince was a rude, angry jerk.”

Zuko huffed. Which big-mouthed traitor dared spreading rumours like that? If he was strict it was to keep order on his ship. But he tried his best to be fair. 

“But also completely obsessed with the Avatar and dedicated to the Fire Lord, even after... What kind of person puts their kid through something like that?” he added on a low voice.

“That’s neither here nor there, Kin. Instead of sticking your nose into someone else’s business, let’s focus on the triple pay Zhao promised. I already know what I’m spending mine on,” the woman laughed. “Look, more fur! I think we are on track!”

The scouts were getting dangerously close to the camp. Zuko felt the same squeezing feeling inside his stomach as he did on the day he infiltrated Pohuai stronghold. A poisonous voice was whispering inside him, calling him a traitor and he hated being one. But he wasn’t really acting against the Fire Nation’s best interests. The Avatar was just an idiot kid, he posed no threat - yet. And by the time he would, Zuko was going to capture him anyway. It had to be him - that was the will of the Fire Lord. 

Zuko came to a decision. He picked up some nuts and aimed. 

The soldiers looked up in confusion. “A lemur!” the man exclaimed.

“The Avatar has a lemur! I bet he’ll lead us to them,” the woman pointed at Zuko.

His plan was working! Zuko dashed off in the opposite direction from the camp, going slow enough so the soldiers could follow him. He led them zigzagging deep into the forest. When they were sufficiently far from the camp, Zuko picked up his pace and disappeared in the canopy of the forest. 

When he was certain that the soldiers lost his trail, he looped back towards the camp. The Avatar and the waterbender were standing in the river, playing some kind of game of catch with water. It looked really lame. How was that going to be useful to fight anyone? Zuko tried to get their attention (he wasn’t sure if his new body was any good at swimming), but Katara was engrossed in the bending practice, and the boy was engrossed in...well...the waterbender. Zuko’s little chirps were drowned out by the roaring of the river. He needed another plan.

Sokka was snoring in the shade. Zuko jumped on his chest and stomped his foot.  _ Wake up you idiot! _ “Chirp!”

“Stop, Momo. I’m having the best dream of a breakfast with poached seal-puffin eggs and smoked fish,” he muttered. 

Zuko grew impatient. Zhao’s scouts were probably figuring out their way back to them. He grabbed the waterskin laying next to the snoring boy, popped out the cork (this took a disproportionate effort) and poured the water on his stupid face. 

_ I said wake up!  _

Sokka yelped. “That’s it! I’m going to make smoked lemur-jerky out of you.” 

Zuko dashed off, Sokka following him, shaking his boomerang. That got the attention of Katara and Aang who came running out of the water. 

“What is wrong with you?” she yelled.

“Momo has gone crazy! He poured water down my face when I was having this best dream of poached eggs…”

Zuko in the meantime made his way to the bags and tried to drag them towards Appa. 

The Avatar scratched his bald head. “I think Momo is trying to say that we need to leave.”

Zuko gave him a sideways glance. _ Thanks, genius. _

“And who made him leader of the group?” Sokka put his hands on his hips. It didn’t make him any more impressive.

“He would certainly do a better job than you,” Katara grimaced at her brother. 

Zuko nodded.  _ Damn straight he would _ .

“Let’s not argue guys, maybe he saw something we didn’t. It’s time to go anyways.” The Avatar lifted the bags into the saddle with swift airbending moves and hopped on. Sokka and Katara scrambled their way up, holding onto the fur of the bison. Zuko followed their example.

“I can’t believe that we are letting a lemur call the shots,” Sokka said grumpily. “There was nothing down there,” he pointed to the ground. 

All eyes followed the direction of his finger, only in time to see the red uniforms emerge from the treeline.

Zuko pulled up his eyebrows smugly and watched with amusement as Katara gave her brother a silent look. Zuko knew that look very well, having been at the receiving end of it many times from Azula. It was a mix between I-told-you-so and you-are-an-idiot. Zuko almost felt pity for the guy. Almost.

“Looks like Momo is our hero today,” Katara pointed out. It made Zuko’s chest swell just a little bit with pride, until he remembered that they were supposed to be the enemy, and today he thwarted yet another attempt by the Fire Nation to capture them and...it was all so screwed up. Zuko deflated. 

The Avatar was the greatest danger to Father’s plans, and Zuko couldn’t lose sight of that. He could turn vicious and lethal at any moment, like his predecessor who ambushed Fire Lord Sozin and almost took his life. Or so Zuko was taught. He glanced at the monk, trying to imagine him wielding the terrifying dark power like the pictures in his books showed.

The Avatar grinned back at him, “Thanks, buddy.” 

Pat-pat. He tapped Zuko’s head lightly, before he could jump out of the way. 

-0-

  
  


After a day of endless, monotonous flying, they were finally making camp for the night on a lake shore. Zuko settled next to Aang, taking handfuls of salty rice from his plate, ignoring Sokka’s resentful glances in his direction.

_I’m not hunting bugs. “_Chirp!”

After dinner, the Water Tribe kids rolled out their sleeping bags, while the monk stretched out next to the bison. Zuko curled up on the other side of the campfire, at a safe distance from grabby hands. He sighed contentedly. It was great to be away from them after an exhausting day of flying, where he was forced to listen to their constant chatter and petty arguments about mending pants. He needed some peace and quiet to figure out his next step.

Zuko closed his eyes, drifting off to sleep. His bliss didn’t last very long. He woke up shaking. It took a moment to identify the source of his discomfort. He was cold. Utterly, miserably cold. Freezing in a way he never experienced before, not even when Uncle put him on a floating ice-sheet to practice his fire-breath. There was no way he was going to be able to fall asleep with his teeth chattering. 

He crawled closer to the campfire. The dying embers did not radiate enough heat to give him comfort. Zuko shuddered. He didn’t like the idea of cuddling up to his enemies. Sokka was out of question with his penchant for trying to make him into smoked snack. The Avatar was again snoring up a storm. Which left only one - slightly uncomfortable - option. Zuko crept closer to the sleeping waterbender and curled up outside her sleeping bag. 

As soon as Zuko’s body made contact with her cover, she let out a small sigh and grabbed his neck, pulling him inside the sleeping bag. “Are you cold again, Momo?” she whispered, stroking his back. “Thanks for saving us today.” 

_ This is just a practical arrangement. I’m not going to peek or anything. On my honor.  _ “Chirp,” Zuko replied on a low voice. It was better to clarify these things beforehand. 

“I know. I miss my home too,” Katara whispered. 

Zuko closed his eyes, revelling in the glorious warmth, trying very hard not to think of what Uncle Iroh was going through.

-0-

The big, juicy bumble-fly circled around the lamp. Momo tried to follow its path, getting his clumsy new paw ready to strike. 

“Buzz, buzz,” the bumble-fly was clearly mocking him. Momo brought down his paw, but it was too slow. The bug flew out of his reach and was staring at him from the ceiling. Momo tried to scale the walls, tearing down ugly red cloth in the process, but his hands and feet kept sliding off the smooth metal. He had no wings. He had a tail growing out of his head which didn’t do anything. His new body was totally useless for catching bugs. 

“Buzz. Buzz.” The bug came closer to taunt him. Momo tried to catch it again, but missed. It was hopeless. He let out a frustrated growl which turned into a fearful shriek when flames escaped his lips. He flailed trying to keep the fire away from his face. Some sparks escaped, setting all the useless clutter inside on fire. With another howl, Momo pulled himself up to the ceiling and watched the flames spread on the floor. 

Momo moaned in desperation. He didn’t want to be in this weird body that couldn’t catch the slowest bugs, couldn’t fly and kept setting itself on fire. He wanted to be back with his warm pack of a smelly bison, a flying human, and the girl with the warm cocoon. He didn’t miss the other human who always looked at him like he was a particularly juicy caterpillar himself. 

There was a knock on the door. Old Human with White Hair entered the cabin. He waved his arms around and the fire died. When he spot Momo on the ceiling, he asked something on a concerned voice. “Glabber-babber-babble.”

Momo scratched himself behind his ears trying to calm down, but it didn’t really help. His new body took the fun out of ear-scratches too. 

Old Human with White Hair gave him a steaming cup of rice. It was nearly not as appetizing as the bumble-fly, but better than nothing. Momo was hungry, so he grabbed a handful with his paw and munched on it. 

Old Human with White Hair gave him a disapproving look, but Momo was too busy trying to fill his new stomach which seemed like a bottomless pit. He would have to start catching way more bugs than before. It felt like a daunting task in this inadequate form. 

After the rice-bowl was empty, Old Human with White Hair poured something into his cup. Momo took a careful sip. Yuck. It was bitter. Nothing but hot leaf juice. He glared at Old Human with White Hair in disapproval. 

“Gabble-babble,” Old Human with White Hair said gently and put a hand on Momo’s shoulder. Momo was thirsty, so he tried the hot leaf juice again. The second gulp tasted less disgusting. Also, his eyelids were becoming heavy. Momo blinked….

-0-

“Sleep now, Prince Zuko,” Iroh leaned over the sleeping form of his nephew. “We’ll figure this out, I promise.”

With a deep sigh, he started to clear away the rubble in the room. It was up to him to protect Zuko’s secret. 

**Author's Note:**

> I was not going to write this story, but it kind of jumped into my brain and wouldn't leave, as it sometimes happens with these things. I blame it on the spirits.
> 
> I'm also on Tumblr as [Royaltealovingkookiness](https://royaltealovingkookiness.tumblr.com/)


End file.
